MLMD -Chapter 206 Calm After the Storm

With the merchants reopening their shops, the happiest people were the common folk—especially the women. They flocked in groups to the main market district and various shops, cheerfully buying the things their households needed.

How could they not be happy? Notices had been posted all over the streets, ordering those shopkeepers who had participated in the strike to sell their goods at half price. Opportunities like this came once in a blue moon—who wouldn’t seize the chance to buy with abandon? Miss it, and it would be gone for good.

But the surprises didn’t end there. On the second day after business resumed, convoys of carts began rolling in from outside the city, each one piled high with grain: rice, wheat, sorghum, flour, and even a type of food they had never seen before. They were told it was called potatoes. The taste wasn’t great, but it was cheap. Even the cheapest grain usually cost one tael and two qian of silver per shi, while this stuff was only six qian per shi—far more economical. It might not taste good, but it filled the belly. In times like these, as long as people could eat their fill, who cared about anything else?

It wasn’t just grain. The prices of oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea all dropped as well. As the women smiled from ear to ear while picking out goods, they loudly cursed the profiteering merchants who had gone on strike. It was those people who had manipulated the market and prices, making life miserable for the common folk—forced to endure ever-rising prices while still gritting their teeth and buying what they needed.

Having been frightened by the recent price hikes, the people poured into the streets carrying rice sacks, creating a truly massive scene. Grain shops and stalls were surrounded so tightly that not even water could seep through. The shopkeepers and clerks had no choice but to shout at the top of their lungs in official speech with a Yingzhou accent: “Everyone, don’t push! There’s plenty of grain! General Xuanwei said that as long as you want to buy, you can buy as much as you want! And if it’s still not enough, Wuli Village has more grain than you could ever finish eating!”

As the saying goes, with grain in hand, the heart knows no fear. With Wuli Village’s granaries backing him up, Yue Yang could handle matters with far greater ease.

After such a major incident, Jiang Xin could no longer hide in the prefectural yamen pretending nothing was happening. After submitting a memorial to the court pleading guilty, he changed into plain clothes and secretly slipped out of the yamen with a few constables, heading toward the main street.

When he reached the street and saw women happily carrying sacks of rice, with children behind them struggling to lug oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar home, Jiang Xin let out a soft sigh and said to the constable beside him, “In the past, I only knew that this Yue Yang could train troops and fight wars. Today, I finally realize that he is also highly skilled in governing the people’s livelihood. I truly underestimated him.”

At the mention of Yue Yang, several constables exchanged glances. One from the immigration office said with lingering fear, “But that man really is quite bloodthirsty, my lord. You don’t know—just the other day on this very street, his men killed until heads rolled. So many street thugs were riddled with holes by firelocks. Even quite a few scholars were injured. That scene… tsk tsk… it was truly terrifying.”

Jiang Xin fell silent for a long moment before saying, “Those scholars wasted all those years studying the sages’ teachings, yet still mixed with spies of the Eastern Barbarians. It’s utterly disgraceful. This matter must be investigated thoroughly. If they truly have ties to the Eastern Barbarians, I will report it to the educational authorities in Taiyuan and strip them of their degrees.”

Hearing that Jiang Xin intended to revoke the scholars’ degrees, the constables exchanged looks like startled wolves, fear flashing in their eyes. For a scholar, losing one’s degree was worse than death—it meant years of effort reduced to nothing and permanent exclusion from the scholarly class. It seemed Lord Jiang was truly determined this time.

After making a round of the streets, all Jiang Xin saw were crowds and smiling faces. His expression shifted repeatedly before he finally took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “Men, we’re going to the Office of the Vice Commander.”

“What? The Office of the Vice Commander?” The constables were stunned. Had Lord Jiang made a mistake? He was a civil official—shouldn’t that martial man come to pay respects to him? Why was it reversed?

“My lord,” one constable asked cautiously, “if you wish to see Yue Yang, why not send someone to inform the Vice Commander’s office and have him come to pay you a visit? Why must you lower yourself to go see him?”

“What do you know!” Jiang Xin snapped impatiently, glaring at him. “At a time like this, don’t you understand that extraordinary situations require extraordinary measures? Move!”

“Yes…”

Seeing that their lord had made up his mind, the servants had nothing more to say. They escorted Jiang Xin toward the Office of the Vice Commander.

And what was Yue Yang doing at this moment?

Yue Yang was accompanying his wife, Hai Lanzhu, on a walk in the small garden behind the residence.

Although the weather had grown very cold and a heavy snowfall had fallen a few days earlier, dropping the temperature to three or four degrees below zero, none of it diminished the warmth in Yue Yang’s heart. It had been nearly three years since he came to this world. Not only had he married three wives, but he was also about to have children of his own—a truly wondrous feeling.

From an ordinary perspective, Yue Yang now had power, wealth, and troops, cutting an imposing figure. With a single cough, the entire northern Shanxi circuit would tremble. Yet he didn’t place much importance on these things. Having lived two lives, he saw many matters clearly. Power and wealth were nice to have, but not worth obsessing over. Life was too short—close your eyes, kick the bucket, and no matter how much you had, you’d take none of it with you. Leaving behind a continuing bloodline was what truly mattered. Thus, he cherished his family deeply, and especially valued his unborn child.

After helping Hai Lanzhu make a round of the bare garden, she suddenly laughed.

Yue Yang asked in confusion, “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing,” Hai Lanzhu smiled softly and asked, “Last night, Jiang He sent me a copy of the interrogation reports of those scholars and merchants. Do you know what was written in them?”

Yue Yang shrugged. “I haven’t read them yet. How would I know?”

“You,” Hai Lanzhu shot him a playful glare, “you’ve been spending your nights with the Linglong sisters lately—when would you have time to read reports?”

“Well, you’re not exactly in a convenient condition,” Yue Yang said guiltily. Indeed, in recent days he had been spending the nights in the Linglong sisters’ rooms. With Hai Lanzhu pregnant, he naturally couldn’t favor her, and after following him for so long, the sisters couldn’t be neglected either.

Seeing the sheepish look on his face, Hai Lanzhu rolled her eyes again and let the matter drop. In this era, expecting a man to have only one wife was impossible. A man like Fang Xuanling appeared only once in thousands of years—hardly a standard to follow.

Hai Lanzhu said, “Those confessions mentioned something important—about Wuli Village.”

“Wuli Village? What happened there?” Yue Yang’s expression immediately turned serious. For him, Wuli Village was not only his base but his foundation: his factories, granaries, and military workshops were all there. Any loss would be devastating.

“Don’t worry, Wuli Village is fine. But according to the confessions, Huang Taiji is paying more and more attention to you, a mere Vice Commander and General Xuanwei. He even dispatched large numbers of spies to infiltrate Wuli Village. They plan not only to steal the methods for making firelocks, but also to steal high-yield seeds, and even use money and beauty to lure craftsmen from the military workshops to the Later Jin. In short, they intend to use every dirty trick imaginable. Well—are you afraid?”

Seeing Hai Lanzhu looking at him with a half-smile, Yue Yang rarely let out a curse. “Afraid my ass. Our firelocks aren’t that easy to copy. Without meeting certain conditions, even if you gave Huang Taiji a hundred years, he couldn’t replicate them. As for the high-yield seeds—even if they steal them, they can only plant one season. If they think stealing a few seeds means endless harvests, they’re dead wrong—unless they can bring Yuan Longping over—cough, cough… anyway, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“That’s good,” Hai Lanzhu nodded in relief. “Since you’re prepared, I won’t worry. But with the commotion you caused this time, there will probably be more impeachments against you at court.”

Yue Yang curled his lip dismissively. “Let them impeach me. What’s the big deal? As long as we hold real military power, what can those pedantic Confucians who only wag their tongues do to me?”

Watching his confident expression, Hai Lanzhu studied him for a while before smiling faintly and asking curiously, “Yue Yang, I find you very different from other officials. Before I married you, I heard that among the Han people, there’s a saying: ‘If the ruler demands a minister’s death, the minister must die.’ Other officials tremble at the thought of imperial punishment. Why do you seem to care so little?”

“How is that the same?” Yue Yang said helplessly, looking at his overly curious wife. If you said something like “the ruler demands death” to people of later generations, you’d be lucky not to get spat on.

Just as Yue Yang was about to change the subject, Hai Lanzhu’s personal maid, Xiaoman, hurried over and reported, “Miss, Master, there’s an official outside who claims to be the prefect. He says he wishes to see the master.”

“Jiang Xin—he finally came,” Yue Yang said with a faint smile.